CNN preps Sao Paolo bureau

Darlington tapped to lead it as net grows in Brazil

CNN is opening a new bureau based in Sao Paolo, Brazil to be run by Shasta Darlington, who joined the Turner news cabler in 2006 at its Havana bureau.

Darlington worked for Reuters in Italy for four years before taking the Havana post at CNN; she also served as a correspondent for both Bloomberg and Reuters in Brazil, where she focused on the country’s economic woes, prison riots and drug wars.

“Her depth of experience reporting on the Latin American region, specifically the time she’s spent in Brazil, coupled with her knowledge of business reporting will serve her well in this economic powerhouse,” said CNN’s international newsgathering topper Parisa Khosravi in a release issued Wednesday.

Powerhouse or no, Brazil is certainly a major player into the international market for the network. CNN International remains one of the CNN/HLN family’s most-prized assets and the net has achieved major penetration in Brazil and throughout South America, so a bureau in Sao Paolo is likely to help the net spread further on the continent.